835 · "In or Out?" - Trilogies, Overlays, Lounges, Live-Action, Leadership & More! - WDW Radio: The Disney Podcast for Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and More

Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome.
Cool off.
Relax.
It's a chocolate.
Here below us is the entranceto the flight to the moon, departing
for outer space every few minutes.

(00:22):
You know, it wasn't too longago we had to carry water from a
well, but thanks to progress,we've got a pump right here in the
kitchen.
We're going to bring ghostsfrom all over the world, but we haven't
got the ghosts in there yet.
We're out collecting the ghosts.
Kindly watch your step please.
W.
Radio, your information station.

(00:47):
What is the best Disney movietrilogy of all time?
Should Tower of Terror in WaltDisney World get a Halloween overlay?
And is Josh tomorrow reallythe right choice for for the next
Disney CEO?
This week on In N Out we diveinto these and many other questions
from top Disney attractionsand controversial updates to live

(01:07):
action remakes, adult onlylounges, and what's next for the
parks and company.
And if you think you've gotstrong opinions, good.
Because loving Disney is onlyhalf the fun.
The other half is debating it.
And I want to hear from you.
Hello my friend and welcome toWWE Radio, your guide to the Disney
parks, movies and experiencesfrom around the world.

(01:30):
I am Lou Mongello and this isshow number 835.
And whether this is your firsttime listening or you've been with
me since the very beginning,thank you and welcome home.
Cause for more than 20 yearsI've shared my love of Disney through
the podcast, live videoevents, cruises and our incredible
community.
Thanks to you.
And I am so grateful that youare here cause you're not just a
listener, you're part of theWW Radio family.

(01:52):
Couple of quick things beforewe dive in.
Please come be part of thecommunity and conversation with over
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(02:16):
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(02:39):
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Please learn more and reachout to me over@lou mangello.com and
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(03:21):
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It helps and means more thanyou know.
So now sit back, relax andenjoy this week's episode of the
WWE Radio Show.

(03:42):
Welcome back to another roundof in or out, the segment where loving
Disney is only half the funand the other half is debating it.
Because I think one of thebest parts about being a Disney fan
is just how passionate we are.
I think we all love the magic,but it doesn't always mean that we
see it the same way.

(04:02):
And that's what makes this so fun.
And because of that, the In nOut segment was born.
And joining me again this weekare some very brave or unsuspecting
guests from the WW RadioNation and community.
And to you listening at home.
I want to hear your thoughtsas well.
If you are in and out, you canshare your hot takes in the clubhouse@www.radio.com

(04:24):
clubhouse.
Or better yet call the voicemail.
Let me hear the passion inyour voice.
I will play it on the air at407-900-9391 and back by popular
demand, or maybe just poor judgment.
My returning guests are hereand brave enough to take on another
round.
So I want to welcome back tothe show and our in and out segment

(04:45):
Connor Brown from VacationKingdoms and the all new at least
to me.
Theme Park Happy hour questionmark Question answered.
Yes, it is indeed where I amfrom couple couple of months old
on on that one.
Happy to be back by popular demand.
Or maybe just on demand is abetter way of putting it.

(05:06):
How I was invited here todaybut happy to be here as always.
I was going to use the KermitMuppet Vision quote but I think it's
too soon and that wound isstill a little bit too fresh.
So unfortunately none of themshowed up, blah blah blah.
But somebody who did show upis Sean Roberson from But Mostly
Disney.
Hey thanks I'm.
I'm excited to be here nomatter how I got chosen.

(05:28):
So, you know, well, listen,you guys.
Have been here before.
You know, we did the segmentreally was sort of a trial run the
first couple of times, butfortunately, people listened.
They enjoyed it.
So if you haven't heardbefore, this is how it's going to
work.
Or, Connor, if you forgot, I'mgoing to make a statement.
It could be about the parks,the movies, Disney plus Cruise line,

(05:50):
and you listening at home.
And my guests, Sean and Connorare going to tell me whether you're
in, you agree, or whetheryou're out.
You don't.
And then you'll have 30 seconds.
Ish.
Or so.
To make you to make your case,defend your stance, and maybe even
try and sway someone to your side.

(06:11):
And I have a very long list ofprompts ready in no particular order.
We're going to let the numbersand fate and chance decide.
Maybe a little bit of chaos.
Just one question first forthe both of you.
Do you feel more prepared thistime or just more nervous, or you
just still don't know whatyou've gotten yourself into?

(06:34):
Yes.
Okay, good.
That's good.
I second that emotion.
Good.
That is.
That is super helpful.
So, all right, we're gonna.
We're gonna dive right in.
I'm actually gonna take thefirst one and make it somewhat timely.
Ish.
Just based on some podcaststhat I have done recently that put
me in very much this mood.

(06:56):
So we're going to not go tothe parks first.
We're gonna go to the movies first.
And so tell me if you're in or out.
The Indiana Jones movies isthe best movie trilogy because the
last two don't count in theentire Disney library.
Are you in or are you out?
And I will do Age BeforeBeauty, so, Tater, you're first.

(07:22):
Well, thanks for that.
Oh, it's so Connor's Googlingwho Indiana Jones is, so that's why
I wanted to give him a littlebit more time.
That's really difficultbecause, I mean, first of all, Harrison
Ford has starred in the besttrilogies ever created anywhere,
over and over and over again.
And obviously I have a top two trilogy.

(07:44):
And do I.
I have to waffle.
I just want to give one ofthose, like, lawyer answers.
And so I.
I will, I will, I will.
I will say I'm out because Ithink Star wars is my favorite trilogy.
Like, I think if I had to, ifI were on a desert island and you
said I can only have onetrilogy, it would be Star wars with
Indiana Jones.
I mean, literally just hangingon by a thread behind.

(08:07):
And I know that might beunpopular and I like all three.
Even Temple of Doom, therewere no movies after those three.
But I like, I like, I likethose three.
So.
And I think we did the correctorder the other night.
It is Raiders Last Crusade Temple.
But yeah.
And if I have to do, if I'mdoing that, then I go Empire, New

(08:28):
Hope, Jedi for me for that.
Just to, just to really getloose some hate mail there.
I am out.
I'm out as well.
I think Raiders is probablyone of the most perfect movies ever
made.
But I don't think the othertwo live up to the hype that that

(08:51):
Raiders alone is compared toother Disney trilogies.
I'm not going to say Star Wars.
I actually going to shock youguys because it's clearly the High
School Musical trilogy.
That is.
I'm kidding.
I am absolutely kidding.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I thought, I thought it'll beFrozen or Toy Story.
Toy Story it is.
Toy Story it is Toy Story for me.

(09:14):
I think again, we'll leavefour out of this.
So we'll start with the three.
So trilogy one, two and three.
One holds such a special placein my heart.
I think two is an exceptionalmovie and I think three gives me
goosebumps.
Even just thinking about itbrings that entire Andy trilogy together.

(09:35):
That's why I rated that.
Honestly.
Indy might be the second below that.
And then Star wars after.
Yeah.
You know, when I said ToyStory, I was sort of trying to make
a joke because I couldn'tthink about what the name of Cinderella
3 was.
And then as you said it, I'mlike, wait a minute.
I think he's serious.
Like this boy is mad.
But I listen, kudos to you for going.

(09:59):
I wasn't even thinking of itwhen honestly I wrote the question.
Yeah, I mean, I think thatthat was such a big part of my childhood.
Like, you know, Gone with theWind was a big part of your childhood
when it first came out.
Right.
And that's how this kind of works.
Remember when Connor used tocome on the show?
Those were the days.
I have a potential follow upin or out question, but I have to

(10:22):
preface it by asking you a question.
Other than Walt Disney World,what other Disney theme parks around
the world have you visited?
I've only been to Disneyland,so I've only got the continental
US Covered.
Disneyland, Same here.
World and land.
And also the Hilton Head Resort.
We want to talk about.
Hilton Head.

(10:43):
All right, so I'LL ask you this.
I mean, this.
I was going to ask you sort ofworldwide, but I'll sort of adjust
it.
Indiana Jones and the Templeof the Forbidden Eye is a top three
Disney attraction in thecontinental United States.
I'm out.
Yep.
Don't even have to think about it.
I like the ride.
I thought it was great.
And I really.
I mean, look, it's why we loveGalaxy's Edge so much, because we

(11:06):
get to pretend we're there.
And I would have worn aleather coat and gone in.
And I love Indiana Jones withall my heart.
But there's, you know, again,if I was making a list of what I
have, we're going next month.
So next month it won't be inthe top three things I have to get
done at Disneyland.
Even though it's great.
I'm with.
I'm with Sean again.
I'm out.
I think.
I think I love that ride.

(11:27):
It's so great.
But the way that Sean put it,you know, are there three things
I would come to mind before that?
Yes, yes, there are.
And they come.
All right, so what are they?
Very quickly, what are the topthree domestic Disney theme park
attractions?
In no particular order.
If you can't.
For me, I mean, I think Towerof Terror in Walt Disney World is

(11:50):
one of the most exceptionalrides the Imagineers have ever created.
I love it so much.
I think Mansion either coast,and I think Pirates out in Disneyland
I think is just tried and true.
What Disney does best.
Yeah.
And Pirates is my favoriteride, no matter what park I'm in.
So that that ride would takethe top three spots anyway.

(12:13):
I would just ride that threetimes in a row.
But I.
But we never miss Carousel.
We never miss People Mover.
You know, there's some stuff,because the nostalgia drives me a
lot, that even thoughGuardians is probably the best ride
I've ever been on anywhere, Iwould skip it for Pirates all day
long.
I love to see that theclassics remain the classics no matter

(12:34):
what.
Where you come from, whatgeneration it is, what park is your
favorite.
I'm very much the same way interms of.
If I had to pick a top three,there's a really good chance it would
probably be what we considerto be classic attraction, what our
kids might consider thosereally old attractions in the parks.

(12:54):
Well, let's sort of stick inthat same vein.
That in terms of.
Hold on, hold on.
Are you not going to.
You're not going to stick yourneck out on this trilogy?
Is that was going to go.
I mean, yes, I try.
I don't want all the hate mail myself.
That's lou Mongello at WWDradio.
Listen, I'm happy you gotevery part of that email address

(13:14):
wrong.
Is the Indiana Jones trilogythe best in the Disney library again?
I sort of balance between thatand Star wars.
And is it really coming downto am I really balancing Temple of
Doom versus the Ewoks?

(13:35):
You know what?
I would probably rank thethird versus the third.
God, Star wars was such anintegral part of my childhood growing
up.
But I did just watch all theIndiana Jones movies, and, man, those
still hold up.
Those still really, reallyhold up.
Dang it.
Dang it.

(13:55):
You know what I'm gonna say?
I'm out.
I'm gonna say Star Wars.
It's just.
Because it was just such achange in the fundamental foundation
of moviemaking and merchandiseand fandom and everything else like
that.
So Star wars deserves its due.
What has also been known asthe Star wars of the Disney parks.

(14:17):
Are you in or out?
The Country Bear Jamboreeupdate is exactly what that show
needed.
Connor and Tater in.
I love Country Bear Jamboree.
It's not on my.
My shelf back here, but I havea bust of.
Of Al.
Big Al, right?
I was.
I don't get too nervous, I'llbe honest.

(14:38):
When they are taking thingsaway from.
From the parks.
That was one that I was very,very nervous for.
I got to go and have a specialpreview of it with D23 and getting
to hear the lead imagineer,the lead show producer, people from
the archives coming andtalking about, you know, how they
had to make this change.

(14:59):
And the imagineer just said this.
He said, I love the CountryBear Jamboree.
I wanted to work on this,reimagining on this project of it.
If I wanted the Country BearJamboree to last for 50 more years,
this needed to happen.
And you go in there now,there's always a ton more people
waiting to get into the next show.
Everyone is clapping along.

(15:20):
There's very few confused.
Looks like there were for thelast few years at the old Country
Bears.
So while I will miss, youknow, Blood on the Saddle and all
those songs, I do really,really, really love the current iteration,
and I absolutely think that'swhat it needed.
So I am absolutely in withConnor as well.

(15:42):
And I also went to that D23early preview thing and thought it
was incredible.
In fact, I think I posted avideo of the entire conversation.
It's not a very good, greataudio, but it's really fascinating
to listen to.
And I loved Country Bear as a kid.
You know, I mean, I rememberit from 75, and I enjoyed it.
And I love Blood on the Saddle.
I mean, my.
My buddy Andrew from ourpodcast, he named his truck Big Al.

(16:06):
But I think they kept thatexact feeling with what they did
and made it for a new generation.
Because, let's face it, we are.
We are phasing out, right?
It's not necessarily my park anymore.
And I'm.
I do fear change a little bit.
I like to.
But I do reserve judgment towait and see.
Except for the lobby of the Polynesian.
They ruined that.

(16:27):
There's.
I am out on the lobby of thePolynesian, but.
Oh, there's a lobby questioncoming up, so just hold on.
But see, but no, I love it.
The music's great.
I mean, like Connor said, yougo in and new kids are just.
Their eyes are lit up.
They did a.
They did a flawless job.
They really did.
So I do sometimes, you know, Ihave this.

(16:50):
While I have such.
Such trust in Disney and theImagineers when they are going to
make a change, I do have thisfear, especially for things that
have personal, sentimentalmeaning for me, especially over such
a long period of time.
Right.
Memories of going with my dad.
He loved Big Al, the man, notthe truck.

(17:10):
And so there's that fear oftaking away something that, although
I didn't go all the time, itstill had meaning for me.
But there is also that trust.
But like you, when you sit inthat show and, you know, I watch
the guests, you know, with oneeye, and I'm watching the show with
the other, when you see andhear the guest reaction and guest
response, you hit it on the head.
And when we talk about thingslike, you know, cars coming into

(17:33):
Frontierland, Love it or not,or Monsters, Inc.
Coming and taking overMuppets, they are not building those
for us.
They are building those forthe generation behind us that grew
up with those franchises, thatgrew up with those characters.
And they, like us, will telltheir kids, this is what I grew up
with.
This is what I love.
This is what my dad took me to.
And they will pass those sortof memories and stories and experiences

(17:55):
down generationally because alot of kids don't know who, you know,
Tom Sawyer and Becky and allthese other characters from Tom Sawyer
island were.
But they all grew up with cars.
They grew up with monsters.
And that is what has a lot ofmeaning to and for them.
So I am in.

(18:16):
You know, even though there'smy little bit of sentimental Heart
that misses.
You know, not that I want alittle Buford to get whipped anymore,
but I do like, I do like and Iappreciate the update while still
keeping one little foot in thepast with some of the tributes and
other references that are inthe pre show and the queue and even
the show itself.
So.

(18:37):
Agreed.
Let's go from Frontierland toEpcot Center.
I have to preface thisquestion by asking you, have you
been to, or at least seenphotos or videos of the new Geo82
Lounge in Spaceship Earth.
Theme theme park Happy hour?
Of course I've been there.
Oh yeah, Sean, have you beenthere yet?
I've not been inside.

(18:57):
But you've seen pictures of it.
I have an idea.
Front of the window, like, youknow, arms, arms for the tap dancing
cat.
Put your face pressed againstthe window, which is two stories
up, but it's fine.
All right, are you in or out?
The Geo82 Lounge is a signthat Disney should continue to add
more immersive high conceptlounges across the park.

(19:21):
So I want you to think aboutthings like Olga's Cantina and Nomad
Lounge and now this sort ofretro futuristic Epcot tribute Sean
and then Connor.
All right, so I'm in with anasterisk because I don't think this
from what I've seen and I havenot sat in there and gotten the full

(19:41):
emotional experience, but Idon't think this is a high concept
lounge.
Like it looks beautiful to meand I think it's themed well and
I'm glad it's there.
I'm not, I'm not against itbeing there, but I mean, Disney set
the bar so high on theTreasure with that Haunted Mansion
Lounge that how do we sit herewith breadcrumbs of that and get

(20:02):
excited?
Right?
Like I'm, I just want to peekbehind the new Pirates Lounge coming
and hope that it has 20 ofthat in there.
So I think it's great.
I, I love, I, I don't drinkalcohol, but I still, you know, I
still consume liquids.
So, you know, I woulddefinitely do a firework show there
and go sit and it looks greatand I do, I do love the retro theming

(20:24):
of it, but it, it's just a lounge.
From what I've seen, itdoesn't seem like it really, you
know, knocks me out of thepark like that.
Like that Haunted MansionLounge, which is, they're going to
have to step their game up to that.
Well, it's different, right?
One is a storytelling themedexperience and this is just more
in terms of Design and decor, Connor.

(20:44):
I do, I, I keep those separateas well though.
Like Geo82 for me is notsomething like an Oga's or like,
you know, the Pirate Tavern coming.
Right.
I do think Disney shouldcontinue with this though.
I think I'd prefer more thingslike Ogres, more things like the

(21:05):
Pirate Tavern, more thingslike the Haunted Mansion Parlor right
on the Treasure and soon to bethe Destiny for me.
The thing with, with Geo82 andSean hit on it as well is it's whispers
of Spaceship Earth.
I will say it's a motif ofSpaceship Earth.
It's not necessarily likeyou're part of the story of Spaceship

(21:28):
Earth.
Right.
It's beautiful in there.
It's a great place to chill.
It's a high end cocktail program.
Right.
It's not a.
I'm going to pop in there.
I do this all the time.
If I can get a quick walk upat Oga's, I go in, I grab a beer.
I'm happy with that.
G82 is just not that kind ofkind of place.
So I would love to see morelounges like this, but maybe a bit

(21:51):
more akin to an Oga's or more,more pirate style things.
And I think to both yourpoints, the Haunted Mansion Lounge
on the Treasure has set thebar on a different stratosphere,
I think, than even places likeOga or Nomad in terms of theming.
I will, you know, continue tosay as of the day we are recording

(22:14):
this, I think that the HauntedMansion Parlor on the Treasure is
the single greateststorytelling and placemaking experience
for guests, period, in termsof being able to step into something
and feel immersed in itbecause it doesn't feel like it was
inspired by the Mansion.
You feel like you have, youare in the mansion or they picked
up a room from the mansion, itbrought it and stuck it into that

(22:36):
space.
Which feels very differentthan the Hyperspace Lounge does on
the Wish.
But I have a follow up.
I have a follow up in or outquestion from this because unlike
many, I think really all theother places we mentioned, Geo82
Lounge is adults only.
It is 21 and up.

(22:57):
So are you in or out?
Disney should add more adultsonly experiences in the parks and
resorts.
I'll go first.
I'll jump on this grenadefirst in, right?
And I'm saying that as achildless millennial, right.
I do think that, right.
I think over the last 10, 15years, Disney adults, whatever you

(23:21):
want to call it, has swungthat way, right?
Like this is a market.
These are people that areComing to the park in droves that
I don't know was the sameamount, you know, 10, 15 years ago.
So I do think that, thatthere's a huge opportunity and I
would absolutely love to takeadvantage of, of those if Disney

(23:42):
continues to do it.
So I'm in.
And I'm, I'm.
Again, I'm in as well, youknow, again with a caveat.
As long as, like, I don'tthink Geo82 takes away a kid's space.
Right, Right.
Like, when I go to the park,anything I can do to get out of a
child's way, to have theirthing is what I do.
Like, I will leap into a bush.
I just want them to, to feelthe way I feel, you know, 40 years

(24:05):
from where they are or whatever.
But, and, and again, we're onthe cusp.
Our last one goes off tocollege in a couple months, so it'll
be just my wife and I.
But we've, we've grown ourDisney love through family trips
of all of us to being together.
And there's phases.
Right.
It's not always.
You're not always holding hands.
It ends, guys.
And I hate it, but it does.

(24:26):
And so we're at a place nowwhere the kids could go off and ride
guardians and Kay and I couldgo get a cocktail or a mocktail or
whatever and, you know, relax.
So I like it as long as itdoesn't get in the way of not quoting
Walt that he wanted a placewhere families could go together
and enjoy and you could be intwo different places in the same

(24:47):
park and enjoy it and still what.
I would be considered together.
So I think it's fine.
You.
I was that close.
For those listening to youhome, my two fingers are closer.
Man, you had me that close tojust breaking out in literal sobbing,
borderline convulsing tears asyou talked about kids growing up
and going off on their own anddoing their own things.

(25:09):
And I hate being an empty nester.
That's why I travel so much.
And this is another thing too,because I've been to G82 and it is
a very elevated experience.
It's wonderful in there.
But I'm also a parent and mykids are older.
They're 21 and almost 20.
So this is a little bit sortof almost less applicable to me than

(25:32):
it was before.
Um, but I do look around and Isee these families with young kids
and I'm like, well, I don't, Inever like places that exclude anyone.
Right.
I don't, I don't love Private clubs.
I don't love things that, youknow, there's a gatekeeper behind
it.
Whether it's, you know, amembers only lounge insert, whether

(25:52):
it's DVC, Club 33, whatever it is.
I mean, I like being able tobe invited to go there.
So please don't stop.
Like, but, you know, I don'tlike someone to have to walk by a
place and go, we can't go inthere because A, B, C and D.
I do think, and based on howpopular it is already, I do think
that adults do like havingthis option.

(26:13):
I think you said it rightwhen, as long as it's not taking
something away that was oncefor everyone, you're not necessarily
losing something by gaining this.
And I think G82 is interestingbecause if you don't know it's there,
you almost don't know thatit's there.
There is not this obviousdoorway that, you know there's a

(26:34):
bouncer standing in front ofgoing, I'm sorry, you're not an adult,
you can't come in.
So because it's sort of subtlyblending into the background, I think
it's less pronounced for people.
So I think it does, I think does.
It does serve a purpose and have.
Look, having been there and Ido want to go back and do a live
review of it.
If only there was somebody,anybody who would go with me.

(26:55):
But I do think is what raisingmy hand where Barry's raising her
hand?
Yeah, I think, I think youhave to just sort of start to be
careful of starting to createtoo many of these adult only experiences
because then you run into the problem.
Well, you know, if we'readults and we want to go and our
kids can't go, what is the option?

(27:16):
Right?
If our kids are, you know, 5,7, 8, 10, 12, maybe you're not necessarily
comfortable with them justlike, hey, here's a roll of quarters.
You know, go run to the arcadefor a few hours.
I'm not saying that my parentswonderfully did that as a kid a lot,
but, you know, he can'tnecessarily do that in Walt Disney
World.
So I can certainly argue itfor both sides.

(27:38):
As long as we are stickingwith the lounges and the drinking
and adults only experiences.
I'm obviously not even goingto spin the wheel.
I'm just going right to thenext question in my mind, which is
the Grand Floridian.
The Birdcage inspired lobbybar is a great idea and should be
replicated elsewhere.

(27:59):
All right, I'll.
I'll do this one first becausewe've, we've had some, some lively
discussion around our houseabout this and, and to kind of give
my wife credit, and shebrought it up and because I'm not
really a details guy, I forgetthese things.
But the Polynesian has a bar,and even though it's not next to

(28:19):
the check in desk, it's, it'sright there.
It's visible.
Same with contemporary.
You know, you've got outer rim.
It's right there.
I see more people drinkingcoffee and doing work on their laptop
there than really, you know,pounding shots of Jagermeister or
whatever.
But it's already.
There's a precedent set and I,I think for me it may come down to

(28:41):
more.
Will it change the atmosphere?
Like, I don't think it'sinappropriate to have a lounge there,
though.
It seems like you could takean elevator up and already go to
a lounge.
Right?
Like, I mean, they've, they'vedone a couple iterations of, of doing
that, and this does kind ofjut out into it.
And I know the, the first.
Well, I won't say adultbecause no one calls me an adult,
but the first trip my wife andI did without kids was to the Floridian.

(29:04):
I had a sales conference andI, you know, gave the piano player
50 bucks to play our weddingsong when he walked in.
And, and that quiet atmosphere.
She was able to notice thatsong was playing.
You know, she thought it wasby accident, but I mean, you know,
it worked out perfectly.
Will some dad from, you know,somewhere else sitting at the bar
because he's mad at his wife.
I don't know, you know, Imean, I haven't seen that.

(29:27):
I haven't experienced that.
I have people, oh, you go toEpcot at night, it's crazy.
Like a lot of night, A lot atnight, and it's not very crazy.
So I, I think if I really hadto give an answer, I would say out
because I don't think it'sneeded, not because I care that it's
there and, and maybe justbecause I have that distortion syndrome

(29:48):
where I like things the waythey are and don't want people messing
with stuff.
I, I first want to say Seanpaid that piano player $50 to play
the song.
Jokes on him.
They would have done it for five.
So just for future reference,he played it really well.
Yeah, it was unbelievable.
It was a $60 song.
I think that that at the GrandFloridian is the biggest piece.

(30:13):
Right?
It's.
How intrusive is it going toBe to the piano player, right?
How intrusive is it going tobe taking away from the atmosphere
that's currently there, right.
I don't know how much it'sgoing to add to it.
I don't know if it's a popularopinion or whatever.
I loved Misners back in the day.

(30:33):
Up in the top, it was sosmall, it almost felt like you stumbled
upon it, right?
So when Enchanted Rose cameand it was massive, I'm like, ah,
this is totally different, right?
Took away the big band thatthat was out there.
So that took away atmospherefrom it.
I don't have an issue with thebar being there as well.

(30:54):
I'll be there when it opens, right?
I'll cozy up to it, I'll get adrink, I'll sit in the.
The chairs there, I'll sit atthe bar there.
I think my biggest thing andmy biggest hesitation is is it going
to take away from the atmosphere?
If you check in right then andthere and it's really humming because
of that bar.

(31:15):
And I know they want to callit a lounge, but that is much more
a bar than it is a lounge,especially when you compare it to
what's upstairs.
So I don't know if I said inor out, but I guess I'm in between.
Yeah, it's one of the look andyou have to imagine that Disney has
figured it out, but we have towonder how that is going to impact

(31:42):
positively, negatively or otherwise.
That peaceful, very restful.
And you know, I think we havesort of lost a little of that without
the Grand Floridian SocietyOrchestra there.
The same way that they used to be.
That Victorian elegance thatthat lobby has.
There is a sense of serenitythere that also makes it feel like

(32:06):
an elevated experience.
Is having this bar there goingto start to make this space a little
more cacophonous?
Does it change having thepiano player in there where when
you walked in, there's justthis very low hum.
You know, I think we asguests, we sort of like maybe subconsciously

(32:26):
sort of lower our voices justbecause of where we are.
And the piano player is suchan important part of what the auditory
experience is like now thatyou're going to get this, you know,
we don't know like how manypeople are going to be there, what
it's going to be like in, youknow, at noon versus where it's going
to be like at 10 o' clock at night.

(32:47):
You know what, you can designa space and think that it's going
to be something until youactually put People into it and then
see that it doesn'tnecessarily work the same way.
Disney Wish layout.
I'm looking at you.
However, I think it has to beone of those things that I wait and
see.
I think people like having aplace to just go to and just sort

(33:09):
of gather around, whether, youknow, maybe the family has gone upstairs
and maybe mom or dad or bothwant to go down or meet some friends
or other people and have justa drink in the, you know, the sort
of the lobby bar, which issuch an important part of, you know,
many resort hotels.
But because of the way thisspace is designed, as opposed to

(33:31):
being it behind semi closed doors.
I just wonder what theatmosphere is going to look and feel
and sound like is really whatI'm starting to think and wonder
in that space.
But are we in or are we outthat the bird cage is gone?
Because birdcage is a little creepy.
This is very.
The bar will be, you know,inspired by the bird cage.

(33:54):
But are we in or are we outthat the bird cage is gone?
I.
Is that it's gone or beingreplaced by this?
Like, I don't.
You know, I would have cried, right?
I wouldn't have sort of criedif just the birdcage was gone.
Because it's not likesomething I needed to go and see
every time I was there.

(34:14):
So.
I don't have an opinion, honestly.
I mean, it was fine there.
It was a little creepy, but itdidn't bother me.
I think Gwendolyn fromKickbake should probably design a
new birdcage roof for thatover there.
I think Gwendolyn shoulddesign a new space inside of the
Grand Floridian.
That would be the perfect fit there.

(34:36):
I haven't done a live reviewthere either, by the way.
Have you eaten a quick aside?
Have you eaten a cake bake?
Yes, I've had cakes, but notlike the food.
Yeah.
Okay, here's a crazy opinion.
I think the food is betterthan the cake.
I'm in.
I'm in 1,000%.
Yep.
I thought I was gonna get hiton that one.
That.
That was the best po boysandwich I've ever had in my life.

(34:59):
I mean, it was unbelievable.
Believable.
Yep.
I actually went to theoriginal one in Carmel, Indiana.
I was there for a wedding andI think I walked in and there was
some sort of American Girldoll convention going on because
I was like, wait, this isn'tfor me.
And I turned and I walked back out.
So I haven't eaten there.
I have tried some of thecakes, though.
Connor if you would like totake me out to lunch, I would be

(35:22):
more than happy to join you there.
Got it.
I heard you take me out.
Heard.
Yep.
Most people do that.
Yeah.
And Shawn, I agree.
The food is better than.
I mean, the cake is almostsort of the gimmick to get you in
the door.
And you almost wouldn't think.
The menu is extensive.
It is delicious.
And you want to talk about,again, an elevated experience as

(35:44):
well.
Yeah.
Now.
And we went there right when it.
Pretty close to when itopened, and it was a flawless experience.
Like, there's nothing to complain.
The service was great.
The room was great.
The food was great.
Everything was perfect.
I'll share a very quick story.
I went there for a breakfastmeeting and we sat and we.
We had our breakfast.
We were hanging out and thestaff was wonderful.

(36:05):
Like, listen, if you want tojust stay and hang out and have tea
or coffee and just do yourthing, we were there so long that
we stayed.
We just moved tables and hadbreakfast and lunch at the Cake Bake
Shop.
You're my hero.
That's legendary.
They call that the Mongellospecial at most places.
And by the way, as a veryquick plug, Gwendolyn Rogers, the

(36:27):
founder of the Cake Bake Shop,is going to be keynoting at my Momentum
weekend workshop conference inWalt Disney World this October.
It is going to be what Ianticipate is a very fascinating
conversation and interactive Qand A to not just about how she built
her business, but how shestarted to work with Disney.
I think there's gonna be a lotof lessons and takeaways for creators

(36:47):
and solopreneurs andentrepreneurs from her.
She's also, by the way, thenicest person in the world.
And she is brilliant.
She's brilliant.
She is very, very, very smart.
I'm very impressed by her.
So, yeah, her story is amazing.
Like, yeah, it was.
I left motivated and.
And about 25 pounds heavier, but.
But reading her story while wewere having lunch and glitter on

(37:10):
everything.
Right?
How can you go wrong?
I mean, it's just likeConnor's house.
There's glitter on everything.
God, just threw that up for you.
Loaded.
All right, let's.
Let's go from the magic to the movies.
Are you in or out?
Disney should keep making liveaction remakes because they work.

(37:32):
And I'll.
I'll qualify.
What I mean by that?
Despite what people might sayonline, despite the hate and the
comments and, you know, justlog on to insert social media account
of your choosing.
Despite what people sayonline, the box office tells A different
story.
People say they don't wantlive action remakes, they want new

(37:52):
ip.
But films like the Lion Kingand Aladdin, Aladdin and Little Mermaid
have made huge amounts ofmoney while original IPs, which we've
been asking for, like Elio,struggle to get traction, even with
great reviews online.
So are you in?

(38:12):
Disney should stick with whatis working from a, from a shareholder
and a financial point of viewand keep reimagining the classics.
Or are you out?
Are you out with the remakes?
And it's time to take morecreative risks and invest in something
new and then we as fans, bythe way, have to show up.
Although I do think that themarketing for Elio could have been
a little bit better andattract us more.
But that's a side tangent.

(38:33):
So are you in or are you out,Tater than Conor?
All right, I'm, I think I'm out.
As a shareholder, I want to,and that's not financial advice to,
to buy Disney stock.
But I, I, I do think that,look, Walt made all those movies.
Treasure Island, Kidnapped,Light in the Forest, you know, all

(38:54):
these live actions funded his animation.
Right.
As I understand it, I, youknow, I'm still learning a lot of
Disney history, but, you know,so I get it and I, I respect it and
I'm the kind of person, hey,just scroll on by.
I'm, I'm.
Pete's Dragon was one of theworst movies I ever saw.
I, I just, the live actionversion, I just didn't watch it again

(39:14):
and moved on with my life.
Right.
However, I wonder, as I oftendo, we, I went to see the first four
or five of them, right?
Like whether I liked them or not.
And my kids were of the age,but it was Disney.
So I'm there, right?
I'm, I'm all in.
And now I'm like, I'm gonnawait a little bit.
I'm gonna, well, maybe, youknow, and so I wonder, is the money

(39:37):
good?
But does it do some brand damage?
Because now you don't, youcan't trust it.
Like, before I could trustthat if I went to see a Disney movie.
I got my hundred dollars inmovie, you know, tickets back for
the five of us.
Now I'm like a little morejudicious in racing out right now.
We haven't seen Leo, butthat's just been because of timing.
I am very excited to see thator Elio, whatever it is.

(39:59):
But Snow White pass.
You know, what was before it?
Don't remember.
You know, I don't know.
Does it does it diminish themagic of the original films when
you do something like this?
Especially if it does not do.
Some obviously do very, verywell, but some that don't.
Or even if either way, does itdiminish the magic and maybe even
the integrity of the original film?

(40:21):
I will say this.
We went and saw Lilo andStitch and we are a house divided.
Like I'm the last Androidperson in my house.
Everyone else is Apple.
Though I, I did get a Mac justfor Ecamm.
But, but I will say that Iliked it the first 25 minutes or
so.
I thought it was a line forline remake and I was not interested.
I thought they took the storywas better.

(40:42):
I liked some of the characters.
It still wasn't great.
I'll probably never watch it again.
But I, I thought that was okay.
I, I, I, I was glad I spentthe money, right?
I was glad I saw it in the theater.
So I'm in on them continuingto do this with my caveat of saying
I'm not going to see any ofthem, right?
Like I probably won't, to betotally honest with you.

(41:03):
And I think there's a couple reasons.
One, Sean, to your point,you're talking about you take your
family, the movies, it's $100.
The reason Disney is probablydoing this is because are you willing
to take $100 gamble onsomething you know nothing about?
Or are you more inclined totake $100 gamble on something property
wise?

(41:23):
You do know, right?
Whether it's good or bad, atthe end of the day, I think that's
besides the point.
What gamble are you willing totake now that tickets are more expensive
than than back in the day?
I think if we look to theother company down the road, right.
Universal did a live actionremake this summer as well.
For a film that is very, very,very new when compared to these other

(41:48):
live action remakes.
Right?
Disney's kind of doing thesame thing.
And next year, the year after,I can't remember when it is with
Moana, right?
So I think what's happeningnow is they are targeting the people
that love the original inhopes to get them out for that.
Not everyone's going to loveevery single original, but the people

(42:09):
that love Lilo and Stitch loveit because of their time growing
up, right?
The Moana kids are going to gobecause it's still the most popular
streamed movie on Disney plusthe animated one, right?
I am in for the sole fact thatthey work.
They might not work for me,but I hope that all that Money coming
in gets funneled to projectsthat I do enjoy, whether it's in

(42:32):
the parks, whether it is someswings that they are still taking
with new property like Elio,like other things that might not
be working out, but they aregetting a lot of money in for it.
Yeah.
And look to your point,Connor, I.
I just saw how to Train younDragon in theaters.
Like I paid and went with mywhole family.

(42:54):
And that was money really,really well spent.
Like it's scene for scene,shot for shot, angle for angle, a
remake of the original.
And I loved it.
I absolutely loved it.
And I'm like this, this is theway I want to feel when I see a Disney
live action remake.
But I do also understand too,as someone with kids who sometimes
you're like, hey, kids, sit down.
I want you to watch this moviethat I loved growing up.

(43:16):
And they're like, oh my God,dad, this thing is so old.
It's so lame.
Does this afford parents theopportunity to say, I know you might
think that the Lion King isold, I know you might think that
this is old, but here is aremake that I understand because
I know it is going to be theshot for shot, but now I can have
this shared experience with my child.
We keep sort of talking aboutthis generational interest in things,

(43:38):
whether it's in the themeparks or in the movies.
Clearly it is paying off.
Like, clearly there are a lotof people who are going to see it
and probably a lot of peoplegoing to see it more than once.
Like, you know, a lot of usdid for movies that we loved from
Disney in the past.
Agreed.
Mic drop.
Yeah, sorry.
So where we're.
Where it's.

(43:59):
It's almost July in the timeof recording this, which means it's
almost spooky season in the parks.
You guys have talked about howyou've been to Disneyland.
Have you gone to Disneylandduring the fall or winter during
some of the seasonal overlaysfor attractions there?
I have not.
I've been there for Christmas time.

(44:19):
Okay, so whether you've seenit or not, I think you can still
answer this question because I love.
I love spooky season.
I love Halloween.
So the Tower of.
We were talking earlier about,you know, well, themed attractions
and storytelling.
The Tower of Terror in WaltDisney World should receive a seasonal
overlay for Halloween.
Just like Haunted Mansion Holiday.

(44:41):
Haunted Mansion Holiday in Disneyland.
The Tower of Terror shouldreceive a seasonal Halloween overlay.
I don't know.
It's a slippery slope for me.
I'm out.
It's a slippery slope for mebecause I absolutely love Guardians

(45:02):
of Galaxy mission breakout, right?
Which was the former Tower ofTerror in California Adventure.
The reason I love it so muchis because we still have our original
Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World.
And again, I think it's just aperfect attraction for me.
It's a slippery slope becauseI think, okay, we have this overlay
now what?

(45:22):
Right?
I mean, I don't think theTwilight Zone is pulling people in.
People are getting drawn tothat attraction because it's massive
and it looks scary and it's sothrilling and it's incredibly well
done.
What's next, right?
All of a sudden, there's.
There's an overlay.
And now, you know what?
We're actually going to redoit fully.
That's where I get very, very,very anxious for that.

(45:44):
And then the Haunted MansionHoliday aspect of it.
I have seen Haunted MansionHoliday out in Disneyland.
It's awesome.
But it's like six months ofthe year now, right?
I mean, it's like August allthe way through into January when
they have to shut down andredo it.
That's a huge, huge, huge time frame.

(46:04):
So I don't know how.
How long it would.
It would occur for.
For the Disney World version.
And I think I'm going to goout, too, and.
But not for me, for other people.
So.
And because I don't mind it, Ithink it's fun.
And I've been.
I've seen Tower of Terror, youknow, I know what it's like.
I've got it ingrained in my heart.

(46:25):
But like Connor said, youknow, it's kind of Rodney, you know,
oh, Lord, looks good on you,you know, kind of thing.
You know, you guys do that in California.
That's a great idea.
But I mean, that's the thingis, if I had never thought of this.
But you know, when there's somany people that come to Disney World
who are coming once, right?
Like, it's such a destinationfrom Brazil or England.

(46:46):
And these people who arescraping together because I know
what it costs to go, to getthere, to go.
Haunted Mansion has been the wait.
What?
There's.
Who's here, you know, JackSkell, I hated, you know, if they
hate it and you, like Connorsays, you've taken up six months
of the year with a month oneither side to put it up and put
it down, you know, now you'vemaybe ruined somebody's trip or something.

(47:08):
Pretty temporary.
And I hadn't even thoughtabout the fact that if it gets adjusted
a little, maybe it getsadjusted all the way.
Now I'm.
Now I'm really scared.
But I will say monsters AfterDark out in California.
Right.
I don't know if they still dothat, but wasn't it like the last
hour of the night they woulddo this special overlay at Guardians

(47:29):
of the of the Galaxy duringthe Halloween season.
So it's.
It's.
Maybe that's it.
But again, all of a suddenit's one hour at the end of the night
and it's two, then it's three,and then it's 12 months.
Well, something.
And.
And if you could flip a switchand do it right.
Like so.
Right.
So when we did.
When we did, like, I wasinvolved when Lou did his Tip Top

(47:50):
Club event, which if you don'tfollow, you know, and.
And you're not a member of thenation, please subscribe.
There's no affiliate link forme, but.
Right, exactly.
The cool thing about.
And it's been gnawing in myhead since then, um, that you could
do that anywhere and press abutton and it's, you know, bluey.
And you press another buttonand it's Star wars.

(48:12):
And you press another buttonand it's an NFL draft room.
I mean, the way the room wasset up with all these LED screens
and.
And then the permanent thingsreally fit about 94 different decors.
So if you could do that, likeConnor suggested, hey, at midnight
on Halloween night, we'regoing to do Tower of Terror.
Haunted, you know, whatever.
And so for the last two orthree hours, then it's something
different.
But tomorrow when, you know,Nigel comes over from Kentworth and

(48:37):
it's his one time to ride it,you know, he still gets to see what
he paid for.
That would be cool.
Yeah.
So I think.
I think there's a couple ofthings in play.
And look, I love.
And that's probably why I wasasking you what you've experienced
out there, because I loveHalloween and Halloween time and
Christmas time out in Disneyland.
There's two things.

(48:57):
One, when they do the overlay,which is not even really an overlay,
but they sort of switch theGuardians experience.
There it is, you know, for allintents and purposes, the flipping
of a switch because thescreens change, the music change
and that.
That's it.
And that they can swap backand forth.
Whereas Haunted MansionHoliday is a process that takes months.

(49:18):
The attraction is closed.
When people go, it's something new.
I think that the.
The dichotomy of the.
The.
And I'm over Generalizing,sort of the crowds that go to Disneyland.
Disneyland is, Is very much alocals park.
So if an attraction is downfor a little while and then there's
something special there, it'snot a big deal when it's closed and
it's an enhancement when it's opened.

(49:39):
I think Walt Disney World,where the quote unquote, average
guest, you know, comes with,you know, mom, dad, the two and a
half kids, once every, youknow, 4.5 years, they're coming to
see the Haunted Mansion,they're coming to see the original.
They don't necessarily want one.
It to be closed to maybesomething that's an overlay for a
movie they don't like.
They don't associate withwhatever it might be.

(50:01):
They want the original, theclassic attraction.
Going back to some of ourearlier conversations, the thing
that they love.
So I think it does work inDisneyland because of the crowd and
the demographic and, and theexpectations there vs Walt Disney
World and just how quickly andeasily they're able to swap that
out and swap it over for all,you know, whether you like attractions

(50:25):
that are screen based or youdon't like ones that are screen based,
it does afford the opportunity.
Star Tours the Adventures continue.
I'm looking at you to upgrade,enhance, change and improve just
by, you know, putting a newtape in the vcr.
So not using tapes and vcr.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't know what either ofthose two things are, but the Guardians

(50:47):
of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewindhere in Epcot, they had a holiday
overlay, their first holidayseason as well.
And it easy to do.
Right.
But didn't fit for.
For a number of reasons.
So I think it's.
It's definitely tricky to getit done correctly.
Well, what about Jingle Cruise?
Like, I think Jingle Cruise isokay because it's still the Jungle
Cruise with an eye.
Right.
It's still the.

(51:08):
The complete essence of theride with a couple of different jokes
and some Santa hats, you know.
Yeah, yeah, it's a greatexample, but it also.
The attraction's not down, youknow, for months at a time, too.
So, yeah, I think there's alot of different factors in play.
All right, I want to berespectful of your time, and I have
like 300 questions on herethat I can ask you, but we're running

(51:30):
out, so I'm going to.
I'm going to save.
I'm going to ask you one last.
Gosh, I'm between two that Iwant to sort of end off with.
All right.
Bob Iger, the current CEO ofthe Walt Disney Company is stepping
down, or so we expect at theend of 2026, which is going to be
here sooner rather than later.

(51:51):
Are you in or out, Josh?
Tomorrow would be the perfectnext Disney CEO.
I think this is the perfecttime to announce that I am actually
taking the role of Disney CEO.
I thought it over with myfamily and I.
And I'm in.
I'm in for Connor being CEO of Disney.
I trust him implicitly.
Let's go.

(52:14):
I think he has the absolutecharisma, stage presence business,
you know, acumen, or at leastappears to as someone who could easily
step into that role.
Right.
Would he be Bob Iger?
No.
And I think that that's likethe most difficult thing for people,

(52:36):
right?
I think the.
The big thing for so longprevious, Bob Chapek was the first
one to come from the parks tobe the CEO.
Right.
So that other huge, massivepart of the company, that is how
it started, movies andentertainment and taking care of
talent and directors andproducers, it's a very, very, very

(53:00):
hard skill to understand.
So that's the only thing goingagainst Josh tomorrow right now.
Right.
I think he's, again, so personable.
You see him in the parks.
He's always friendly, right.
He's stage presence on stageat D23, getting interviewed by.
By Lou Mongello.
Right.
Like, he's, he's open, andthat's so, so, so great.

(53:24):
I do think he would be greaton service level, but I think there
are some nuances there that Idon't know if.
If he fully understands or forthat matter, somebody else, probably
a sense of that role, doesn'tunderstand the nuances of the parks,
of the fans of the cruise lines.
Right.
So I think either way, it'snot going to be 100% Bob Iger at

(53:50):
the beginning.
Yeah.
And I'm in with him fromeverything I've seen.
Right.
Like, he seems like a goodsteward of the mission, right?
Of the.
Of the.
Where we have to go in thefuture, where we were in the past.
You know, he seems like hereally encompasses all.
He seems like a fan, right.
Like, every time I hear himtalk, whether it's on a, you know,
a reel, somebody met himsomewhere, or an actual interview,

(54:12):
he feels Disney.
Right.
And we.
And we need that.
I love Iger.
I.
I didn't never got to know Bob.
Check enough to know whetherhe was great or not.
You know, just.
It could have been coincidence.
I don't know.
I'm.
I'm gonna choose the good guy.
That's why I'M here with Lou,but I, I do.
If I had my druthers, I wantto see a team again.

(54:33):
Right.
Because that seems what'sworked the best when you had, you
know, Eisner and, you know,dreaming and someone else finding
the money or letting Royfigure it out, you know, card walk,
all these people.
It's always seemed to been ateam because you have both.
I was, I was on a church campboard and we had the mission for
the church camp and then wehad to pay the bills.

(54:54):
Right.
And if you had someone whowas, you know, tying square knots
and doing archery, that's great.
But he doesn't understand, youknow, depreciation and a cost based
accounting system, you know,so you really need either a split
personality person or anotherdynamic duo, which is what I, I pray
for at night when I go to bed.

(55:14):
So I'm going to start bysaying I agree with you 1000% and
I think that's the key.
And I mean this in the mostrespectful way when I say that the
Eisner Wells business andpersonal relationship was akin to
the Walt and the Roy.
I think that.
And I think now more thanever, I think the company may be

(55:37):
too big for.
And I'm qualifying this.
There's a lot of asteriskseverywhere because Bob Iger's done
an exceptional job.
Is the company so big that oneperson will have a very challenging
time trying to navigate all ofthe different divisions of the company?
If you look at all of theDisney companies holdings from entertainment

(55:58):
to sports to media andeverything else across the board,
it's not 5, 10, 15, 20 companies.
There are hundreds ofcompanies across the board that one
person, man, woman, I thinkis, is no matter how talented you
are and wherever you're sortof your zone of expertise is.
And I think Bob Iger has avery wide, very, very wide spectrum

(56:20):
and zone and breadth and depthof knowledge and expertise in a lot
of areas, I think it's challenging.
I would say that I'm out onthis and I'll explain why.
I like both of these gentlemenpersonally and professionally.
I've had the very fortunateoccasion to meet and chat with Josh
more than I have with Bob Iger.

(56:43):
What you see is what you get, right?
The man that looks you in theeyes and is having that conversation
with you and makes you feellike you are the only person in the
room.
This is not just me.
I've watched the dynamic as hewalks the park, as he talks to cast
members, as he talks to guests.
He is personable.
Connor you're right.
He is clearly a fan.
And what he speaks comes notnecessarily from a teleprompter,

(57:07):
but from his heart.
I think he's incredibly wellspoken, he's very, very, very intelligent.
And he also has his finger onthe pulse of not just what we as
guests want and expect and arelooking for, but cast members as
well.
It is why he is so beloved.
And I think if you put him inthe position of CEO, you are now

(57:27):
taking him away from thoseliteral and figurative touch points
that he has with cast and with guest.
That I think is so criticalnot just to the cast member success,
the guests levels of enjoymentand having expectations exceeded,
but I think for him as well.

(57:49):
I think he very much seems tofeed on that.
I think Bob and Josh are agreat combination, a great pair.
I've watched them.
I watch the dynamic of the twoof them on big stages and small stages
and how well they complementone another.
Is Disney potentially a littlehesitant to bring another parks person

(58:09):
in post Chapek?
Possibly.
Because Josh's experienceclearly is in this, you know, in
this sort of theme park vertical.
And there's a lot more to this company.
I would not want to be theperson listening.
God bless the person thatsteps in Bob Iger's shoes because
they are monstrous and I don'tknow that you can fill them.

(58:32):
And again, this is a bad comparison.
But understand my meaning.
It's like stepping into Walt's shoes.
Look at the success that BobIger has brought this company.
Look at the growthdomestically, internationally, across
multiple mediums, theacquisitions of companies, the expansion
onto not just the big screen,but the small screen, the theme parks,
the cruise line.

(58:54):
These are massive, massiveshoes to fill.
And I don't know.
I don't know who the perfectperson is for it.
Tater.
I think that you're right.
I think it needs to be almostthis Walt, Roy, Bob and Josh, you
know, Michael and Frank typeof combination.
Now you can't necessarily do that.
You have a CEO that like Walt.

(59:16):
I think.
I think.
I think Bob Iger was also likeWalt in that they surrounded themselves
with the people who were thevery best at what they do.
Right?
Yeah.
And I think Bob Igersurrounded himself with.
With, you know, with staff.
I think he also surroundedhimself in terms of acquisitions.
We as a company are not, arenot necessarily reaching this demographic.

(59:38):
We're not doing this well.
Let's just go buy that company.
Right?
Let's go buy Pixar.
We're not reaching, you know,teenage to young adult boys.
Let's go buy Marvel and Starwars and it works.
But it does sort of follow, Ithink in my mind, that same idea
of surrounding themselves bythe people who are the best at what
they do.
That is the sign of anexceptional CEO.

(59:59):
And while I think Josh can dothe job without question, I want
to see him where he is.
I think he shines here in thatleadership role.
And I think he also is thisvery human, very personal sort of
touch point that I would notwant to lose by seeing him move up

(01:00:21):
the ranks and out to California.
I think one big thing thoughis these people are very, very, very
ambitious.
Right.
It wasn't too long ago thatJosh was just in charge of adventures
by Disney.
Right.
And now all of a sudden he'sin charge of everything, parks and
merchandise and all that stuff.
Right.

(01:00:42):
When you're kind of gettinggroomed and trained for this potential
position, even though you'vebeen somewhere your entire career,
if you don't end up gettingit, where does that leave you?
Right.
How much is your ego in playwith that?
Right.
I think that that's anotherscary part of it too, that if he

(01:01:04):
doesn't get it and he stays inhis current position, is he a growth,
you know, junkie and he justwants to continue to grow and he's
going to look for a different opportunity.
And now maybe you, you lostout on, on that too.
Yeah.
I don't envy anyone who is inthis position, though I do envy them
because I'll take a board seat.

(01:01:25):
I'll just one I don't need.
I'll give it a shot.
I'll give it the old college try.
Right.
But yeah, I think that that's,that's the thing and I agree with
both of you.
I think we should bring backEisner said that, right?
Yeah, I don't know if I saidthat I would bring back Eisner, but
I also don't know.
Look, you know, again, Ithink, I think, and this is not to

(01:01:47):
take, and I certainly don'tknow Josh well enough to speak to
this, but you know, I thinkthe concern might be is he so theme
park focused for a CEO rolethat also has to oversee media and
streaming and global strategy,which clearly is a huge focus for
the company right now, notjust in terms of theme parks, but

(01:02:08):
cruise line and otherexperiences and again, online and
streaming media as well.
So if not Josh, then who, Right?
Is it, is it Dana WaldenWaldman that the, the co chair of
Disney Entertainment who doesoversee that massive TV and streaming
and content leader she has ahistory of very strong leadership

(01:02:30):
background over at 21stCentury Fox before the acquisition.
Less experience with parks,consumer products again, maybe sort
of company wide branding.
I know Alan Bergman's name hasbeen thrown around as well in terms
of he's been on the film side,the Marvel Pixar, Lucas animation.
Been with Disney 25 years.

(01:02:52):
Again, we don't.
He's not somebody that has avery high public profile.
You know, what, what and whatis the leadership strategy that they're
looking to follow Bob Iger with?
Right, Is this continuing thisidea of more growth, more expansion,
more, more, more.

(01:03:12):
Listen, whoever walks in thedoor has got $60 billion to spend
on the theme park.
So they're, they're in a veryenviable position in, in that regard.
But does it all trickle downfrom that?
You know, it all started withthe mouse.
You know, I mean, I mean somecompanies, GoPro or whoever they
own, you know, who cares?
You know, they're not, that'snot really their focus on that.
But streaming cruise ships,everything, you know, does it all

(01:03:37):
apex right at the top, youknow, with the, that park mentality
and what, what they do fortheir, their customers because that,
that Disney customer serviceelevates everything and can you run
hard businesses and still chaytrue to that?
I, I don't know.
Maybe that's what Roy, youknow, and those guys and Wells did.
Maybe they deflected all thatso that you could keep that mission

(01:03:58):
alive.
And that's, you know, you putsomebody who's an accountant in charge,
they're gonna do the businesswell, but they're not gonna have
the brand, you know, cradled properly.
It's tough.
I'm with you.
It's, it's.
I mean I was thinking you guyswere talking on, on an episode of
the podcast about whether acasino would go on the Japanese cruise,
you know, the Asian cruiseship, you know, because that's a
huge part of their culture andjust because it's not ours and it's

(01:04:21):
very anti Disney here in America.
Does that make it anti Disneysomewhere else?
And who makes that decisionand where does you know it it's going
to roll uphill, you know,which is, is tough.
So.
And look, I don't you know,and not sort of go down this road
of, of you know, the, theprior Bob the middle.
The middle Bob, the, the BobChapek who you know was a finance

(01:04:44):
guy, he was a business guy.
I think he was brought in todo a very specific job in terms of,
of the economics and maybeclearly did not necessarily resonate
with fans and maybe executivesand, and cast as well.
You know, that's a, I thinkthat's a tough.
And look, you know, I wasthinking back to remember Tom Staggs,
the former chief operating officer.

(01:05:05):
He seemed to be Eisner's heirapparent for a long period of time.
He has since left the company.
But he was somebody who hadvery deep experience in the parks
and finance and operations.
Very familiar with and youknow, I think sort of bored Disney's
DNA.
I'm not sure that there's any,you know, that there's any scenario

(01:05:28):
where Tom Staggs comes back.
But you know, what, whatseemed might, what to us might seem,
well, this is clearly theperson who's going to step foot in.
It does not seem that anybodyhas really taken a very clear step.
And maybe there's hesitancyfrom people too.
Maybe they don't want thisrole, which, you know, I have to
imagine to a certain degree isthankless and comes with it.

(01:05:51):
A lot of pressure.
I know they make a lot ofmoney too, but there's a lot of day
to day pressure.
And I cannot imagine what it'slike to be Bob Iger for a day.
Ever since the guy whose nameis on the door, Walt Disney, decided,
hey, I'm going to market mycompany by putting myself out there,
right.
By going on the shows, bybecoming Uncle Walt.

(01:06:12):
Right.
That role, the leader, forgetthe name.
Whether it's CEO or president, right.
Or chairman, the leader of thecompany is outward.
Everyone knows him.
They know the name, they knowthe face.
Right.
He started that and fromthere, that's why the CEO of Disney

(01:06:33):
is probably the most wellknown CEO in any of the major American
companies.
Right.
And that's why I think it'sso, so, so crucial and so difficult.
And it's, you can't compare itto, you know, the CEO of Target.
Right.
It's like, you know, thisperson, they're out there, they're

(01:06:54):
marketing the company just asmuch as they're running the business.
And that's where all thisextra baggage comes into play.
Well, and it's nice becauseDisney fans don't have strong opinions
and they're very forgivingabout change and trying new things.
So, you know, it's really areally nice sandbox to play in where
you have complete autonomy andforgiveness from everyone.

(01:07:15):
Yeah.
And you know, Connor, when youwere saying that, it made me think,
you know, not every executiveis public facing the same way.
Whether you liked him ordidn't like him, whether you liked
his Persona or not, you sortof got the sense that Michael Eisner
wanted to be a little bit morelike Walt.

(01:07:37):
He wanted to be on tv.
He wanted to be in front ofthe camera.
He wanted to be not just theexecutive leading the company, but
the face of the company, thevoice and the personality of the
company.
He certainly was not UncleWalt, but if you remember, he was
on TV and in the theme parks,you know, in on screens a lot.

(01:07:58):
Bob Iger, Bob Chapek,certainly not.
So as much, you know, do we asfans, we want more of that.
I think it obviously dependson the person.
And I think the next, youknow, 12 to 18 months as we get close
to figuring out who the nextCEO was going to be and that transition,
what that's going to looklike, what the leadership style,

(01:08:21):
what the strategy is going tobe going forward across this very
large, very wonderfullyentangled, you know, corporate strategy,
both domestically, globally,in real life, in the theme parks,
emerging technologies, etc.
There is a lot to unpack and uncover.
This is not going to be this,nor shall it be the last time that

(01:08:43):
we talk about the, the futureCEO of the company.
We could talk.
Listen, I've got plenty more questions.
I have plenty more to talkabout in terms of just this.
But I want to hear from you,our friend who is listening.
What are your thoughts?
What are your hot takes?
I'm going to put all thesequestions in the Clubhouse over at
www.radio.com clubhouse.

(01:09:04):
You can come be part of thecommunity and conversation again,
whether it's who the next CEOis or anything else we've chatted
about.
I'd love for you to call thevoicemail at 407-900-9391.
That's 407900, WDW1.
Leave your thoughts.
Let me know if you are in orout on any of these things and I
will play it on the air.
Taylor Robinson and Connor Brown.

(01:09:25):
Thank you guys.
It is always so good to see you.
Next time we do this, weshould do it together in person somewhere
in Walt Disney World on oneConnor Brown.
But in the meantime, please,Tater than Connor, tell people where
they can find you.
I think you can.
Well, usually kind of lurkingaround the WDW Nation clubhouse.

(01:09:46):
So I'm on there a lot, butmostly Disney.
If you, if you just Google,but mostly Disney.
I think I have everythinglocked up there.
YouTube channels, some social media.
We do a live podcast withanother WDW member on Tuesday nights.
Swing by there and jump in thechat and I would feel bad about advertising
that but lose the one whostarted it.
So it's your fault that itexists at all.

(01:10:09):
I love good people who aredoing good things and Connor.
So that's why I want you guysto share out because I want people
to come listen.
I've always believed man.
And you guys know this.
At least I hope you know this.
I think there's room for usall to like, all of us to win and
all of us to reach like mindedpeople who are just sharing good

(01:10:29):
stuff.
So that is why I want peopleto try and find you.
That's why we love man.
You can find me at Momentumthis fall in October, four days.
So don't miss that.
That's what we call a tease.
Looking forward to that.
I.
I am an Orlando local as well.
So each week I send out aweekly newsletter where I talk about
the one thing I did in theparks the previous week.

(01:10:49):
Go tovacationkingdoms.comemail to sign
up and then you can also findme at Vacation Kingdoms and at theme
park happy hour across thesocial medias.
Nice.
I'm gonna have to check outthat theme park happy hour thing
one of these days.
It's not Drunk Disney.
No, no, no.
I'm getting some bad press.

(01:11:09):
Some bad press?
That is not the name of it.
All right, my last question to you.
As long as we're talking aboutplaces to go and just, you know,
whether you're having acocktail or a non alcoholic libation,
end this off by telling me ifwe could just snap our fingers and
the three of us just gettogether at any lounge.
What is the best lounge in allof Walt Disney World?

(01:11:31):
Well, I just checked theweather so that we could know what,
what temperature it is rightnow when you're snapping those fingers
and it's 78.
It's very nice right now.
I'm gonna go Geyser Point.
I love going there.
I love just chilling,watching, looking out at the lake.
You know, it is, it is pristine.
There and I, I think at thattemperature too, I might sit over

(01:11:55):
at the new Polynesian Tower at the.
Yeah.
Oh man, I'm.
I'm falling in love with that place.
I just tried their burger.
It's incredible.
That Spam.
Oh my gosh, it's so delicious.
And apparently it has the bestnon alcoholic pina colada on property.
So arguably the best view ofany lounge on property.

(01:12:17):
Waialu.
You know, at first I almostsaid Nomad.
Then I'm like, God, so far away.
And if you don't get the goodseat outside and the big cushion
chairs.
And then I'm like, oh, yeah,you're right.
No guys are point.
It's totally guys are point.
And now I might be on thewailulu trail.
It may have the best food ofany lounge on property and definitely
the best food view.

(01:12:38):
All right, we're going to haveto make a Wednesday night, Wednesday
night live show and, andrecord or something or just eat something
there.
Oh, yeah.
Together.
Fellas, thank you very much.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you, Lou.
Thank you.
Bye, Connor.
Bye.

(01:12:59):
It's time for this week'sDisney Trivia challenge to see how
well you know the magic,memories and hidden treasures of
Disney.
If you think you know theanswer, you can enter for a chance
to win a Disney prize package.
This week's trivia contest isbrought to you by my favorite foodie
event of the year, the WaltDisney World Swan and Dolphin Food
and wine Classic.
Happening November 15th and 16th.
It's a Friday and Saturdayright in the heart of Walt Disney

(01:13:21):
World.
It is an amazing night ofincredible food, drinks, live music
and true Disney magic underthe stars.
Because your ticket includes,get this, unlimited, I'm not kidding,
food and beverages with dishesfrom award winning chefs, wines,
beers, creative cocktails fromaround the world all as you stroll
the beautiful causeway betweenthe Swan and Dolphin resorts.

(01:13:44):
It really is one of thehighlights of my year.
And look, if you love Disneyfood and just having a great night
out, you are going to love it too.
I would love to see you there.
Tickets are on sale now andyou can get all the details over@swandolphinfoodandwineclassic.com
and I really hope to see youthere this year.
Now, before we get to thisweek's question, let's go back review

(01:14:04):
last week's and select our winner.
So last week we were talkingall about Indiana Jones in the Disney
parks and your question was totell me what's the name of the interactive
mobile game that you can playin the queue at the Indiana Jones
Adventure at Disneyland.
First, thanks to so many ofyou entered got this one correct
or didn't even know that thisgame existed, but that the answer

(01:14:27):
is of course, the IndianaJones Adventure, the Gifts of Mara.
And this is an interactivemobile game that you can play in
the Play Disney Parks app andit's completely free and it's really
designed to help enhance yourQ experience for the Temple of the
Forbidden Eye attractionbecause you get to become an archaeologist
assisting Dr.
Jones.

(01:14:47):
So while you're waiting inline, you can look through Dr.
Jones diary, decode some ofthe ancient Mara glyphs, translate
the inscriptions, collectdigital artifacts and treasures,
and learn more about thelegend of Mara and the three gifts
promised, riches, youth, andvisions of the future.
It really helps add a deeperstory layer to the queue and reward
guests for exploring theenvironment around you.

(01:15:09):
It helps turning the worldwait into a fun, free little adventure,
and it helps make theexperience more interactive, more
immersive.
You sort of forget that you'rewaiting just as if you were part
of Indy's expedition team.
This is something that is very cool.
It's still active.
I'm actually going to go playit when I go to Disneyland next week
during and then after ourWWRADIO Group Adventures by Disney

(01:15:32):
trip to Disneyland in Southern California.
And I'll try and share some ofthat experience with you all on social
and maybe record a video as well.
Anyway, I took all the correctentries, randomly selected one last
week you were playing for a WWRadio keychain stickers pin and a
mystery prize.
And last week's winnerrandomly selected is Amanda P.
So Amanda, congratulations.

(01:15:53):
Your prize package is alreadyon the way.
And if you played last weekand didn't win, that's okay because
here's your next chance toenter in this week's Walt Disney
World Trivia Challenge.
So in this week's in or outsegment, we talk about some of the
current and future loungescoming to the Walt Disney World Parks
and resorts.
But tell me, what was the nameof the original bar or lounge at

(01:16:17):
Disney's Grand Florida andResort and Spa before it was rethemed
and became the Enchanted Rose?
What was the name of theoriginal bar that was in that location
before it was the Enchanted Rose?
Now I'm going to give you anextra week to answer this because
I'm going to be traveling nextweek for our Adventures by Disney.
I'm going to be staying inCalifornia for a few more days, so
I'm not going to be sure ifI'm going to be able to get a show

(01:16:38):
up.
And if I do, I might not beable to get the trivia done.
So I'm going to give you untilSunday, July 20th at 11:59pm Eastern
to go to www.radio.com clickon this week's podcast, use the forum
there.
And in addition to thekeychain stickers pin, the mystery
prize I'm going to give you innext week's prize package is going
to be from Disneyland.
So good luck and have fun.

(01:17:04):
Thank you again for listening,playing along and being part of the
WWO family.
I am so sincerely grateful foryou and I hope that you found a little
bit of magic, some laughter,maybe even learned something along
all the way on this week's show.
I am leaving this Saturday forour WW Radio Group Adventures by
Disney to Disneyland andSouthern California California.
I'm going to be sharing a loton social primarily on Instagram

(01:17:25):
so please follow along connectwith me there.
I am at Lou Mongello onInstagram as well as on Facebook.
I'll be posting in theclubhouse@www.com clubhouse and of
course going live when I canso turn on notifications there.
And as always my friend andyou are my friend whether we have
met yet or not.
All I ask is that if you enjoythe show to please help spread the
word, share the show and tella friend.

(01:17:46):
Remember to be kind to choosethe good.
Have a great day and evenbetter tomorrow.
So until next time stay hungry.
See ya.

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